The Not So Simple Life
by llAurorall
Summary: Behind the knight and sorceress, the hero and heroine, they are just a man and a woman. The same fate awaits them as does countless others; the day to day happenings of a life to be lived. Only, their lives were never destined to be simple...


_**The Not So Simple Life – Untold Fears**_

Squall Leonhart looked down at his mission brief. The printed text was beginning to swirl on the page. Headmaster Cid's voice was a disturbing drone in the background. Even Quistis, the most attentive woman at Garden, was rapidly falling asleep in the chair next to him.

They had been confined in this small room for over two hours, discussing their next assignment; a community dinner with Esthar and Galbadia. There would be food, dancing and champagne. As far as Squall was concerned there would be indigestion, deception and not enough alcohol to hide in. There was no hope of escape.

From the most part his attention had been diverted on how to coerce Rinoa to go with him. She hated these official functions as much as he did. At the last, where she and her father had almost come to blows, she had vowed never to attend another.

Rinoa was the only one who made them bearable. If she didn't go, he didn't think he could make it through without causing an international incident.

About to beg for a mercy adjournment Squall stopped cold. A violent fear coiled in his stomach. His skin instantly broke out in a sweat.

He stood without realising, held rooted to the spot with terror.

"Rinoa…" He whispered.

His feet moved of their own accord. He tripped over his chair, ignored the calls from Cid and Quistis. The corridors of Garden blurred as he ran. He recalled Zell shouting his name but that too was unimportant. All that mattered was the fear crippling his body; a fear that was not his own.

Rinoa was in trouble. She was frightened and she needed him. Nothing could override that demand. Never had it taken so long in his life to cover the short distance between the offices and the dormitories.

When he finally burst through the door to their shared apartment, his heart was threatening to beat out of his chest. His world narrowed on Rinoa. She stood paralysed and stricken, barely registering his sudden and violent appearance.

Immediately he moved to her. His eyes told him his lover was fine; no one had come for her while he'd been away. But he had to know for sure; touch her, hold her; feel her breathing calmly in his arms. Halfway across the room she looked directly at him. The relief that flooded through her frame was obvious even to him.

"What happened?" He soothed, angling round the obstructive furniture.

Rinoa pointed a shaking hand just in front of his feet.

Squall looked down, could see nothing. But then something caught his eye in movement.

"This is what frightened you so badly?" He asked, utterly dumbstruck.

She nodded weakly. "Do something."

Squall let his own relief stabilise his heart-rate. Rinoa was not in danger. That she had become so powerfully terrified of a spider was something of a shock. His sorceress had single-handedly decimated some pretty powerful beings and not shown an ounce of fear. Certainly nothing on the level of causing a reciprocating panic to overcome his own emotions. The depth of their connection was not a little scary. Oddly, it made him happy she was so bound to him.

Rinoa might be petrified of spiders but as he had just confirmed, _his_ greatest fear was losing her. To be so close as to feel her every emotion made it easier to protect her; made it easier to be there when she was in danger. The risk of losing her, and the accompanying fear, lessened a little with that knowledge.

"What do you want me to do, stand on it?"

"No!" She halted the fall of his boot. "Don't kill it."

"So you don't want it here but you don't want me to kill it?"

Rinoa nodded vigorously, resisting the urge to scream. "Throw it out the window or something."

"You're a wimp, you know that?" Squall chuckled. Now the moment of dread was over, he felt uncharacteristically playful. He bent over and scooped up the little black thing.

"No. I'm a _girl_. It's totally okay for a girl to be scared of spiders. It's genetic even; like guys thinking gunblades are cool." Rinoa replied primly, maintaining her distance from Squall and the furry arachnid he had captured in his hands.

"Genetic?"

She nodded, stepping quickly when he came too close. "Definitely."

"You know it's more scared of _you_, right?" Squall offered, peeking at the small creature between his fingers. His eyebrows briefly rose and then settled into his usual stoic expression.

"Absolutely not possible." Rinoa gulped, barely suppressing a shiver.

"You defeated Ultimecia!" Squall pointed out, fighting a smile that was threatening to overpower his composure. "You fought against one of the most evil tyrants of all time, and you're scared of a little spider?"

"Every sorceress has her weakness. Mine happens to be you and spiders."

A wicked grin curled the side of Squall's mouth. "_I'm_ your weakness, huh?"

When he tried to come closer Rinoa backed into a wall. "Don't you dare come near me with that thing, Squall Leonhart. So help me, I'll scream."

Ignoring her threats as just that, Squall covered the last of the space between them. Trapped between him and the wall, Rinoa had nowhere to run. She turned her head in vain, shut her eyes tight. When Squall's breath tickled across her neck she nearly had a stroke.

"So how _weak_ do I make you?" He teased.

"Helplessly." She breathed in desperate truth. "Just get rid of that thing and I'll do whatever you want."

Rinoa could feel the grin of Squall's lips against the curve of her ear. She hated how much he was enjoying this. "I have to attend a dinner function in two weeks." He explained. "Black-tie; politics; boring old men. Say you'll go with me."

She loathed formal dinners; especially those that involved Squall's superiors and political counterparts. She had voiced, loudly and often, she would rather battle with a swarm of bite bugs than sit at one of those pomp and ceremony gatherings. But this was a hairy spider and her own knight was holding her hostage.

"Done." Rinoa groaned. There was not much she wouldn't do when faced with a spider. She fancied in that moment she would have even sat through a family reunion between her own father and Squall's; two grown men who acted like complete children whenever they occupied the same room.

"Done." Squall agreed, kissing the fluttering pulse in Rinoa's neck.

The feather-light caress of his mouth almost drove her to distraction. "Where is it?" She managed to articulate, albeit through clenched teeth and a sky-rocketing sense of euphoria.

"Where's what?" He replied nonchalantly. His fingertips trailed down her bare shoulders, marvelling at the wave of bristling skin he left in his wake. Rinoa was always so open with him; reacted so nakedly to his touch. It always left him humbled and breathless.

"Don't play with me, Squall." Rinoa warned. "Get rid of that spider."

A dark chuckle rumbled in Squall's chest. He opened the hand containing the spider and waited for Rinoa to open her eyes. The look of confusion on her face, one that gradually morphed into realisation, was priceless.

"That's not a spider." She pointed out dumbly.

Squall laughed again. "True. It's carpet lint." The little ball of black fur rolled in the breeze. It was definitely not a spider but in the height of panic, it could easily be confused as one.

Rinoa took a moment to collect herself. With Squall retaining his proximity it was hard. Once or twice she opened her mouth, fish-like and speechless. When she was finally able to look back up into Squall's openly smug expression, she could only say one thing.

"You blackmailed me, with _carpet lint_?"

The growling edge to Rinoa's voice should have been warning enough for Squall to retreat. But as his lover had already pointed out, _he_ was one of her weaknesses. And it wasn't his fault she had mistaken a ball of black fur as a spider.

"That's one way of looking at it." He answered guilelessly, as if he had not done exactly that. Truthfully, he hadn't intended to use the situation to his advantage. But the opportunity had just been too good to pass up.

"You're a scoundrel." Rinoa admonished hotly, pressing her hands to his chest and pushing him back. Her effort was barely there and she was not upset when he didn't move.

Squall tucked her dark hair behind her ear with the utmost care. The pad of his thumb brushed her cheekbone. Her eyes fluttered closed.

"But I love you…" He whispered, unearthly quiet. Her heart never failed to leap at that simple declaration.

Rinoa grinned wide enough to show her teeth. With her eyes still closed she brushed her lips along his jaw. Her fingers wound into thick chestnut hair. He stopped breathing when she spoke.

"That's the _only_ reason you're still alive, Commander." Her voice was supposed to be firm but it betrayed her forgiveness.

"Lucky me." He smirked, brushing her nose with his, delighting in her lilting laugh before she kissed him.

Later, he would have to remember to thank her for getting him out of that meeting too. _Much_ later…

_**Aurora**_

_Just a bit of fun, really. I hope you all enjoyed reading as much as I did writing. Please tell me I'm not the only one who can really envision this happening? Questions, comments, flames, random statements; all welcome! Get in touch through this site or on lj. The link for that is on my profile page. I'll do a write-up and whatnot for this on lj too._

_Hope to see you all again soon…_


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